#2 Make your keys

To use the GnuPG system, you'll need a public key and a private key (known together as a keypair). Each is a long string of randomly generated numbers and letters that are unique to you. Your public and private keys are linked together by a special mathematical function.

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Your public key isn't like a physical key, because it's stored in the open in an online directory called a keyserver. People download it and use it, along with GnuPG, to encrypt emails they send to you. You can think of the keyserver as phonebook, where people who want to send you an encrypted email look up your public key.

Your private key is more like a physical key, because you keep it to yourself (on your computer). You use GnuPG and your private key to decode encrypted emails other people send to you.

Step 2.a Make a keypair

In your email program's menu, select OpenPGP → Setup Wizard. You don't need to read the text in the window that pops up unless you'd like to, but it's good to read the text on the later screens of the wizard.

On the second screen, titled "Signing," select "No, I want to create per-recipient rules for emails that need to be signed."

Use the default options until you reach the screen titled "Create Key".

On the screen titled "Create Key," pick a strong password! Your password should be at least 12 characters and include at least one lower case and upper case letter and at least one number or punctuation symbol. Don't forget the password, or all this work will be wasted!

The program will take a little while to finish the next step, the "Key Creation" screen. While you wait, do something else with your computer, like watching a movie or browsing the Web. The more you use the computer at this point, the faster the key creation will go.

When the OpenPGP Confirm screen pops up, select Generate Certificate and choose to save it in a safe place on your computer (we recommend making a folder called "Revocation Certificate" in your home folder and keeping it there. You'll learn more about the revocation certificate in Section 5. The setup wizard will ask you to move it onto an external device, but that isn't necessary at this moment.

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Î£ÏÎ· Î¿Î¸ÏÎ½Î· ÏÎ¿Ï ÏÎ¹ÏÎ»Î¿ÏÎ¿ÏÎµÎ¯ÏÎ±Î¹ "Encryption" (ÎÏÏÏÏÎ¿Î³ÏÎ¬ÏÎ·ÏÎ·), ÎµÏÎ¯Î»ÎµÎ¾Îµ "Encrypt all of my messages by default, because privacy is critical to me."

Î£ÏÎ·Î½ Î¿Î¸ÏÎ½Î· ÏÎ¿Ï ÏÎ¹ÏÎ»Î¿ÏÎ¿ÏÎµÎ¯ÏÎ±Î¹ "Signing" (Î¥ÏÎ¿Î³ÏÎ±ÏÎ®), ÎµÏÎ¯Î»ÎµÎ¾Îµ "Don't sign my messages by default."

Troubleshooting

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I can't find the OpenPGP menu.: In many new email programs, the main menu is represented by an image of three stacked horizontal bars. OpenPGP may be inside a section called Tools.
ÎÎµ Î¼ÏÎ¿ÏÏ Î½Î± Î²ÏÏ ÏÎ¿ Î¼ÎµÎ½Î¿Ï ÏÎ¿Ï Enigmail.: Î£Îµ ÏÎ¿Î»Î»Î¬ Î½ÎÎ± ÏÏÎ¿Î³ÏÎ¬Î¼Î¼Î±ÏÎ± email, ÏÎ¿ ÎºÏÏÎ¯ÏÏ Î¼ÎµÎ½Î¿Ï Î±Î½Î±ÏÎ±ÏÎ¯ÏÏÎ±ÏÎ±Î¹ Î±ÏÏ Î¼Î¹Î± ÎµÎ¹ÎºÏÎ½Î± ÏÏÎ¹ÏÎ½ ÏÏÎ¿Î¹ÏÎ¹ÏÎ¼ÎÎ½ÏÎ½ Î¿ÏÎ¹Î¶ÏÎ½ÏÎ¹ÏÎ½ Î³ÏÎ±Î¼Î¼ÏÎ½. Î¤Î¿ Enigmail Î¯ÏÏÏ Î²ÏÎ¯ÏÎºÎµÏÎ±Î¹ ÏÎµ ÎÎ½Î± ÏÎ¼Î®Î¼Î± ÏÎ¿Ï Î¿Î½Î¿Î¼Î¬Î¶ÎµÏÎ±Î¹ ÎÏÎ³Î±Î»ÎµÎ¯Î±.
Don't see a solution to your problem?: Please let us know on the feedback page.
ÎÎµ Î²ÏÎ¯ÏÎºÎµÎ¹Ï Î»ÏÏÎ· ÏÏÎ¿ ÏÏÏÎ²Î»Î·Î¼Î¬ ÏÎ¿Ï;: Î£Îµ ÏÎ±ÏÎ±ÎºÎ±Î»Î¿ÏÎ¼Îµ Î½Î± Î¼Î±Ï ÎµÎ½Î·Î¼ÎµÏÏÏÎµÎ¹Ï ÏÏÎµÏÎ¹ÎºÎ¬ ÏÏÎ· ÏÎµÎ»Î¯Î´Î± ÏÏÎ¿Î»Î¹Î±ÏÎ¼Î¿Ï.

Step 2.b Upload your public key to a keyserver

In your email program's menu, select OpenPGP → Key Management.

Right click on your key and select Upload Public Keys to Keyserver. Use the default keyserver in the popup.

Now someone who wants to send you an encrypted message can download your public key from the Internet. There are multiple keyservers that you can select from the menu when you upload, but they are all copies of each other, so it doesn't matter which one you use. However, it sometimes takes a few hours for them to match each other when a new key is uploaded.

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Troubleshooting

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The progress bar never finishes: Close the upload popup, make sure you are connected to the Internet, and try again. If that doesn't work, try again, selecting a different keyserver.
My key doesnt appear in the list: Try checking Show Default Keys.
Î Î¼ÏÎ¬ÏÎ± ÏÏÎ¿ÏÎ´Î¿Ï Î´ÎµÎ½ Î¿Î»Î¿ÎºÎ»Î·ÏÏÎ½ÎµÏÎ±Î¹ ÏÎ¿ÏÎ: ÎÎ»ÎµÎ¯ÏÎµ ÏÎ¿ ÏÎ±ÏÎ¬Î¸ÏÏÎ¿ Î¼ÎµÏÎ±ÏÏÏÏÏÏÎ·Ï ÎºÎ±Î¹ ÏÎ¹Î³Î¿ÏÏÎÏÎ¿Ï ÏÏÎ¹ ÎÏÎµÎ¹Ï ÏÏÎ½Î´ÎµÏÎ· Î¼Îµ ÏÎ¿ Internet.ÎÎ½ Î±ÏÏÏ Î´Îµ Î´Î¿ÏÎ»ÎÏÎµÎ¹, ÏÏÎ¿ÏÏÎ¬Î¸Î·ÏÎµ Î¾Î±Î½Î¬, ÎµÏÎ¹Î»ÎÎ³Î¿Î½ÏÎ±Ï Î´Î¹Î±ÏÎ¿ÏÎµÏÎ¹ÎºÏ ÎµÎ¾ÏÏÎ·ÏÎµÏÎ·ÏÎ® ÎºÎ»ÎµÎ¹Î´Î¹ÏÎ½.
Î¤Î¿ ÎºÎ»ÎµÎ¹Î´Î¯ Î¼Î¿Ï Î´ÎµÎ½ ÎµÎ¼ÏÎ±Î½Î¯Î¶ÎµÏÎ±Î¹ ÏÏÎ· Î»Î¯ÏÏÎ±: ÎÎ¿ÎºÎ¯Î¼Î±ÏÎµ ÏÎ·Î½ ÎµÏÎ¹Î»Î¿Î³Î® Show Default Keys (ÎÎ¼ÏÎ¬Î½Î¹ÏÎµ ÏÎ± ÏÏÎ¿ÎµÏÎ¹Î»ÎµÎ³Î¼ÎÎ½Î± ÎºÎ»ÎµÎ¹Î´Î¹Î¬).
Don't see a solution to your problem?: Please let us know on the feedback page.
ÎÎµ Î²ÏÎ¯ÏÎºÎµÎ¹Ï Î»ÏÏÎ· ÏÏÎ¿ ÏÏÏÎ²Î»Î·Î¼Î¬ ÏÎ¿Ï;: Î£Îµ ÏÎ±ÏÎ±ÎºÎ±Î»Î¿ÏÎ¼Îµ Î½Î± Î¼Î±Ï ÎµÎ½Î·Î¼ÎµÏÏÏÎµÎ¹Ï ÏÏÎµÏÎ¹ÎºÎ¬ ÏÏÎ· ÏÎµÎ»Î¯Î´Î± ÏÏÎ¿Î»Î¹Î±ÏÎ¼Î¿Ï.

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GnuPG, OpenPGP, what?

You're using a program called GnuPG, but the menu in your email program is called OpenPGP. Confusing, right? In general, the terms GnuPG, GPG, GNU Privacy Guard, OpenPGP and PGP are used interchangeably, though they all have slightly different meanings.

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@@ -261,45 +267,49 @@

#3 Try it out!

Now you'll try a test correspondence with a computer program named Adele, which knows how to use encryption. Except where noted, these are the same steps you'd follow when corresponding with a real, live person.

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Step 3.a Send Adele your public key

This is a special step that you won't have to do when corresponding with real people. In your email program's menu, go to OpenPGP → Key Management. You should see your key in the list that pops up. Right click on your key and select Send Public Keys by Email. This will create a new draft message, as if you had just hit the Write button.

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+ +

Address the message to adele-en@gnupp.de. Put at least one word (whatever you want) in the subject and body of the email, then hit send.

It may take two or three minutes for Adele to respond. In the meantime, you might want to skip ahead and check out the Use it Well section of this guide. Once she's responded, head to the next step. From here on, you'll be doing just the same thing as when corresponding with a real person.

Step 3.b Send a test encrypted email

Write a new email in your email program, addressed to adele-en@gnupp.de. Make the subject "Encryption test" or something similar and write something in the body. Don't send it yet.

Click the icon of the key in the bottom right of the composition window (it should turn yellow). This tells Enigmail to encrypt the email with the key you downloaded in the last step.

Next to the key, you'll notice an icon of a pencil. Clicking this tells Enigmail to add a special, uniqe signature to your message, generated using your private key. This is a separate feature from encryption, and you don't have to use it for this guide.

Click Send. Enigmail will pop up a window that says "Recipients not valid, not trusted or not found."

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To encrypt and email to Adele, you need her public key, and so now you'll have Enigmail download it from a keyserver. Click Download Missing Keys and use the default in the pop-up that asks you to choose a keyserver. Once it finds keys, check the first one (Key ID starting with 9), then select ok. Select ok in the next pop-up.

Now you are back at the "Recipients not valid, not trusted or not found" screen. Select Adele's key from the list and click Ok. If the message doesn't send automatically, you can hit send now.

Î¤ÏÏÎ± ÎµÎ¯ÏÎ±Î¹ ÏÎ¯ÏÏ ÏÏÎ·Î½ Î¿Î¸ÏÎ½Î· "Recipients not valid, not trusted or not found". Î¤ÏÎÎºÎ±ÏÎµ ÏÎ¿ ÎºÎ¿ÏÏÎ¯ ÏÎ¿Ï ÎµÎ¯Î½Î±Î¹ Î¼ÏÏÎ¿ÏÏÎ¬ ÏÏÎ¿ ÎºÎ»ÎµÎ¹Î´Î¯ ÏÎ¿Ï Edward ÎºÎ±Î¹ ÏÎ¬ÏÎ± Send.

Troubleshooting

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Enigmail can't find Adele's key: Close the pop-ups that have appeared since you clicked. Make sure you are connected to the Internet and try again. If that doesn't work, repeat the process, choosing a different keyserver when it asks you to pick one.
Don't see a solution to your problem?: Please let us know on the feedback page.
Î¤Î¿ Enigmail Î´Îµ Î¼ÏÎ¿ÏÎµÎ¯ Î½Î± Î²ÏÎµÎ¯ ÏÎ¿ ÎºÎ»ÎµÎ¹Î´Î¯ ÏÎ¿Ï Edward: ÎÎ»ÎµÎ¯ÏÎµ ÏÎ± ÏÎ±ÏÎ¬Î¸ÏÏÎ± ÏÎ¿Ï ÎµÎ¼ÏÎ±Î½Î¯ÏÏÎ·ÎºÎ±Î½ Î±ÏÏ ÏÎ· ÏÏÎ¹Î³Î¼Î® ÏÎ¿Ï ÎÎºÎ±Î½ÎµÏ ÎºÎ»Î¹Îº. ÎÎµÎ²Î±Î¹ÏÏÎ¿Ï ÏÏÎ¹ ÎµÎ¯ÏÎ±Î¹ ÏÏÎ½Î´ÎµÎ´ÎµÎ¼ÎÎ½Î¿Ï/Î· ÏÏÎ¿ Internet ÎºÎ±Î¹ ÏÏÎ¿ÏÏÎ¬Î¸Î·ÏÎµ ÏÎ¬Î»Î¹. ÎÎ½ Î±ÏÏÏ Î´Îµ Î´Î¿ÏÎ»ÎÏÎµÎ¹, ÎµÏÎ±Î½Î¬Î»Î±Î²Îµ ÏÎ· Î´Î¹Î±Î´Î¹ÎºÎ±ÏÎ¯Î±, ÎµÏÎ¹Î»ÎÎ³Î¿Î½ÏÎ±Ï ÎÎ½Î± Î´Î¹Î±ÏÎ¿ÏÎµÏÎ¹ÎºÏ ÎµÎ¾ÏÏÎ·ÏÎµÏÎ·ÏÎ® ÎºÎ»ÎµÎ¹Î´Î¹ÏÎ½ ÏÏÎ±Î½ ÏÎ¿Ï ÏÎ¿ Î¶Î·ÏÎ®ÏÎµÎ¹.
ÎÎµ Î²ÏÎ¯ÏÎºÎµÎ¹Ï Î»ÏÏÎ· ÏÏÎ¿ ÏÏÏÎ²Î»Î·Î¼Î± ÏÎ¿Ï;: Î£Îµ ÏÎ±ÏÎ±ÎºÎ±Î»Î¿ÏÎ¼Îµ Î½Î± Î¼Î±Ï ÎµÎ½Î·Î¼ÎµÏÏÏÎµÎ¹Ï ÏÏÎµÏÎ¹ÎºÎ¬ ÏÏÎ· ÏÎµÎ»Î¯Î´Î± ÏÏÎ¿Î»Î¹Î±ÏÎ¼Î¿Ï.

@@ -308,9 +318,9 @@

Important: Security tips

Even if you encrypted your email, the subject line is not encrypted, so don't put private information there. The sending and receiving addresses aren't encrypted either, so they could be read by a surveillance system. When you send attachments, Enigmail will give you an option of whether you want to encrypt them.

It's also good practice to click the key icon in your email composition window before you start to write. Otherwise, your email client could save an unencrypted draft on the mail server, potentially exposing it to snooping.

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@@ -318,41 +328,30 @@

Step 3.c Receive a response

When Adele receives your email, she will use her private key to decrypt it, then fetch your public key from a keyserver and use it to encrypt a response to you.

Since you encrypted this email with Adele's public key, Adele's private key is required to decrypt it. Adele is the only one with her private key, so no one except her — not even you — can decrypt it.

It may take two or three minutes for Adele to respond. In the meantime, you might want to skip ahead and check out the Use it Well section of this guide.

When you receive Adele's email and open it, Enigmail will automatically detect that it is encrypted with your public key, and then it will use your private key to decrypt it.

Notice the bar that Enigmail shows you above the message, with information about the status of Adele's key.

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- -

#4 Learn the Web of Trust

Email encryption is a powerful technology, but it has a weakness; it requires a way to verify that a person's public key is actually theirs. Otherwise, there would be no way to stop an attacker from making an email address with your friend's name, creating keys to go with it and impersonating your friend. That's why the free software programmers that developed email encryption created keysigning and the Web of Trust.

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When you sign someone's key, you are publicly saying that you trust that it does belong to them and not an impostor. People who use your public key can see the number of signatures it has. Once you've used GnuPG for a long time, you may have hundreds of signatures. The Web of Trust is the constellation of all GnuPG users, connected to each other by chains of trust expressed through signatures, forming a giant network. The more signatures a key has, and the more signatures its signers' keys have, the more trustworthy that key is.

People's public keys are usually identified by their key fingerprint, which is a string of digits like DD878C06E8C2BEDDD4A440D3E573346992AB3FF7 (for Adele's key). You can see the fingerprint for your public key, and other public keys saved on your computer, by going to OpenPGP → Key Management in your email program's menu, then right clicking on the key and choosing Key Properties. It's good practice to share your fingerprint wherever you share your email address, so that so that people can double-check that they have the correct public key when they download yours from a keyserver.

You may also see public keys referred to by their key ID, which is simply the last 8 digits of the fingerprint, like 92AB3FF7 for Adele. The key ID is visible directly from the Key Management Window. This key ID is like a person's first name (it is a useful shorthand but may not be unique to a given key), whereas the fingerprint actually identifies the key uniquely without the possibility of confusion. If you only have the key ID, you can still look up the key (as well as its fingerprint), like you did in Step 3, but if multiple options appear, you'll need the fingerprint of the person to are trying to communicate to verify which one to use.

@@ -360,15 +359,15 @@

Step 4.a Sign a key

In your email program's menu, go to OpenPGP → Key Management.

Right click on Adele's public key and select Sign Key from the context menu.

In the window that pops up, select "I will not answer" and click ok.

In your email program's menu, go to OpenPGP → Key Management → Keyserver → Upload Public Keys and hit ok.

You've just effectively said "I trust that Adele's public key actually belongs to Adele." This doesn't mean much because Adele isn't a real person, but it's good practice.

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End #pgp-pathfinder -->

Important: check people's identification before signing their keys

Before signing a real person's key, always make sure it actually belongs to them, and that they are who they say they are. Ask them to show you their ID (unless you trust them very highly) and their public key fingerprint -- not just the shorter public key ID, which could refer to another key as well. In Enigmail, answer honestly in the window that pops up and asks "How carefully have you verified that the key you are about to sign actually belongs to the person(s) named above?".

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Click here when you're done

Download the source package for this guide. Fonts used in the guide & infographic: Dosis by Pablo Impallari, Signika by Anna Giedryś Archivo Narrow by Omnibus-Type, PXL-2000 by Florian Cramer.

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ÎÎ±ÏÎÎ²Î±ÏÎµ ÏÎ¿ ÏÎ±ÎºÎÏÎ¿ ÏÎ·Î³Î±Î¯Î¿Ï ÎºÏÎ´Î¹ÎºÎ± Î³Î¹Î± Î±ÏÏÏ ÏÎ¿Î½ Î¿Î´Î·Î³Ï. ÎÏÎ±Î¼Î¼Î±ÏÎ¿ÏÎµÎ¹ÏÎÏ ÏÎ¿Ï ÏÏÎ·ÏÎ¹Î¼Î¿ÏÎ¿Î¹Î¿ÏÎ½ÏÎ±Î¹ ÏÎµ Î±ÏÏÏ ÏÎ¿Î½ Î¿Î´Î·Î³Ï & ÏÎ¿ infographic: Dosis ÏÎ¿Ï Pablo Impallari, Signika ÏÎ·Ï Anna Giedryś Archivo Narrow Î±ÏÏ ÏÎ·Î½ Omnibus-Type, PXL-2000 ÏÎ¿Ï Florian Cramer, Roboto ÏÎ¿Ï Christian Robertson.

- Infographic and guide design by Journalism++

+ Î£ÏÎµÎ´Î¯Î±ÏÎ· Infographic ÎºÎ±Î¹ Î¿Î´Î·Î³Î¿Ï Î±ÏÏ ÏÎ·Î½ Journalism++